Myopia and its complications

According to the data of World Health Organization, weak sight at uncorrected anomalies of refringence is one of the main directions of liquidation of preventable blindness to the 2020. The article presents the review of present-day literature devoted to the etiology, pathogenesis of myopia and its complications. Data of Russian and foreign researchers are presented. The estimation of the methods of research in myopia diagnostics and associated complications is given. The attention is given to the unsolved problems of early diagnostics of myopia complications

Growth of a vortex polycrystal in type II superconductors

We discuss the formation of a vortex polycrystal in type II superconductors from the competition between pinning and elastic forces. We compute the elastic energy of a deformed grain boundary, that is strongly non-local, and obtain the depinning stress for weak and strong pinning. Our estimates for the grain size dependence on the magnetic field strength are in good agreement with previous experiments on NbMo. Finally, we discuss the effect of thermal noise on grain growth.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Chemistry for Sustainable Development 16 (2008) 143-153 Composition and Physicochemical Properties of Natural Blue Clays

Abstract Physical and chemical features of natural clays have been studied using the methods of X-ray diffraction, chemical, thermal and spectral analyses, ESR and IR spectroscopy; the nature of their medical properties being considered. The composition of macro and trace impurities in the clays has been analysed. The medical properties of the clays are determined by the presence of almost all the chemical elements necessary for normal functioning of a living organism as well as by sorption features due to a specific character of crystal structure. Using ESR technique, the forms of occurrence for some trace impurities (Mn 2+ , Fe 3+ ) and for paramagnetic centers (PC) of the radiation nature have been determined. The intensity of PC response has been shown to correlate with the content of actinoid ions such as U and Th in the samples. Basing on the ESR spectral data it has been established that blue color of the clays is caused by V 4+ impurity ions V 4+ in the form of vanadyl VO 2+ . The content of the microelements such as vanadium, boron and chromium in blue kaoline ãëèíàõ has been demonstrated to be 10-15 times higher as compared to clay samples of another coloring. An important role of complex influence of macro-and microelements (silicon-boron, vanadium-chromium, manganese, etc.) on the enzymes and hormones in various organs, as well as the presence of such combinations of chemical elements in blue clays have been noted

Small Scale Anisotropy Predictions for the Auger Observatory

We study the small scale anisotropy signal expected at the Pierre Auger Observatory in the next 1, 5, 10, and 15 years of operation, from sources of ultra-high energy (UHE) protons. We numerically propagate UHE protons over cosmological distances using an injection spectrum and normalization that fits current data up to \sim 10^{20}\eV. We characterize possible sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) by their mean density in the local Universe, $\bar{\rho} = 10^{-r}$ Mpc$^{-3}$, with $r$ between 3 and 6. These densities span a wide range of extragalactic sites for UHECR sources, from common to rare galaxies or even clusters of galaxies. We simulate 100 realizations for each model and calculate the two point correlation function for events with energies above 4 \times 10^{19}\eV and above 10^{20}\eV, as specialized to the case of the Auger telescope. We find that for r\ga 4, Auger should be able to detect small scale anisotropies in the near future. Distinguishing between different source densities based on cosmic ray data alone will be more challenging than detecting a departure from isotropy and is likely to require larger statistics of events. Combining the angular distribution studies with the spectral shape around the GZK feature will also help distinguish between different source scenarios.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables, submitted to JCA

Vortex Matter Transition in Bi2{}_2Sr2{}_2CaCu2{}_2O8+y{}_{8+y} under Tilted Fields

Vortex phase diagram under tilted fields from the $c$ axis in Bi${}_2$Sr${}_2$CaCu${}_2$O${}_{8+y}$ is studied by local magnetization hysteresis measurements using Hall probes. When the field is applied at large angles from the $c$ axis, an anomaly ($H_p^\ast$) other than the well-known peak effect ($H_p$) are found at fields below $H_p$. The angular dependence of the field $H_p^\ast$ is nonmonotonic and clearly different from that of $H_p$ and depends on the oxygen content of the crystal. The results suggest existence of a vortex matter transition under tilted fields. Possible mechanisms of the transition are discussed.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, some corrections are adde

Lymphocyte subpopulations of bone marrow of breast cancer patients

We have studied bone marrow lymphocytes subpopulations in 67 patients with breast cancer and 13 patients with benign processes in the mammary gland. Morphological study of the cellular composition of the bone marrow and immunological analysis of lymphocyte subpopulations have been done. Comparative characterization of lymphocyte subpopulations in the bone marrow of patients with breast cancer and benign breast diseases was done by flow cytometry. The gate of Mature lymphocytes (CD45++) studied subpopulations of T cells (CD3), b cells (CD19), NK cells (CD56+CD3–). Among T lymphocytes (CD3+) was studied TCRγδ and TCRαβ cells, a subpopulation of CD4, CD8, CD4+, CD25+ T-regulatory cells. Within В-lymphocytes (CD19+) was studied subpopulations CD10, CD38, CD5 lymphocytes. We revealed a significant increase of CD5+, CD38+ B-cells in patients with breast cancer compared to benign tumors. Index of maturation of erythrocytes was significantly higher in BC 0.96 in comparison with benign processes 0.92. When comparing immunological data with histological structure of the tumor in the group of breast cancer patients, it was noted that the percent of CD10+ B-lymphocytes was significantly higher in infiltrative ductal cancer in comparison to infiltrative lobular carcinoma (19.3 and 8.0 % accordingly; p = 0.024)

Adaptation of mycoplasmas to antimicrobial agents: Acholeplasma laidlawii extracellular vesicles mediate the export of ciprofloxacin and a mutant gene related to the antibiotic target

This study demonstrated that extracellular membrane vesicles are involved with the development of resistance to fluoroquinolones by mycoplasmas (class Mollicutes). This study assessed the differences in susceptibility to ciprofloxacin among strains of Acholeplasma laidlawii PG8. The mechanisms of mycoplasma resistance to antibiotics may be associated with a mutation in a gene related to the target of quinolones, which could modulate the vesiculation level. A. laidlawii extracellular vesicles mediated the export of the nucleotide sequences of the antibiotic target gene as well as the traffic of ciprofloxacin. These results may facilitate the development of effective approaches to control mycoplasma infections, as well as the contamination of cell cultures and vaccine preparations. © 2014 Elena S. Medvedeva et al

Biomarkers of Myopic Choroidal Neovascularization in Women, Determining the Clinical Course and Response to Anti-VEGF Therapy

Aim: to identify clinical and laboratory biomarkers that determine the nature of the course of myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) and the response to anti-VEGF therapy in women.Material and methods. A prospective non-randomized study was conducted in 52 patients (52 eyes) with active mCNV, treated with ranibizumab intravitreally, 0.5mg. After 12months, the suppression of CNV activity, the number of injections and the fellow eye inclusion in the pathological process were taken into account. There were 2 groups: with a favorable clinical course (n = 31, age – 33,0 ± 5,1 years, anterior-posterior axis (APA) 28,5 ± 0,3 mm) and an unfavorable clinical course (n = 21, age – 34,0 ± 4,1 years, APA – 29,01 ± 0,1 mm). Structural retinal changes, choroid thickness, retinal blood flow, and heart rate were evaluated using OCT and OCTA protocols (Optovue XR Avanti, USA). Studies were conducted before the start of therapy and then one time per month. The concentration of sex and pituitary hormones (ELISA analyzer “Immunohem-2100”), lipoprotein A, Apo B/Apo A (Accent 200 Cormay, Poland), coagulogram data (Helena C-2, UK), and the concentration of highly sensitive C-reactive protein in blood serum before the start of antiangiogenic therapy were studied once.Results. In the first group, 1.4 ± 0.7 ranibizumab injections were administered to suppress the CNV activity. In the opposite group – 3.5 ± 2.1 injections, in 73.7 % of cases, relapses were diagnosed, in 3 cases – primary CNV in the fellow eye. Clinical and laboratory biomarkers of the unfavorable clinical course of mCNV were identified: extreme choroidal thinning, highly organized membranes of a large area, dome-shaped deformation of the posterior pole, excess of the reference values of lipoprotein A, fibrinogen and highly sensitive C-reactive protein by two or more times, an imbalance of sex and pituitary hormones (excess of the reference values of prolactin, follicle stimulating hormone, cortisol, progesterone concentration decrease), a predominant change in the menstrual-ovarian cycle according to the type of amenorrhea and opsomenorrhea.Conclusion. Myopic CNV biomarkers in women allow predicting the response to anti-VEGF therapy, the formation of relapses and the inclusion of the fellow eye in the pathological process